Twitcher confessed that he has laid so many trails from this pub before that he decided to lay one of his old ones and spend more time in the pub.  But while sitting at the bar he found a book of local walks and, flicking through it, decided to try some of the deviations included therein.

So - the trail set off north heading straight over the crossroads and taking the right fork before turning off left to Church Farm and onto the footpath which lead past an empty thatched cottage.  Danielle admitted that she was brought up and married in Woodcote but had never been along this particular path before. Crossing the main road carefully we zigzagged into the woods.  The sun was shining and the ground was soft.  The views were beautiful.  Who could think of anywhere better to be?  Even the hills were enjoyable.  And the first one came quite soon.  Then we headed down a gentle slope for some time, passing through Bottom Farm before a short stretch along the lane and a turn back up and across Braziers Common. A stretch along the road led to a turning on the right back into the woods past Checkendon Court.  Another dog leg across the road and off towards Corker’s Farm and Exlade Street.  Now we were so near and yet so far.  The Highwaymen pub was within sight but not the one we were aiming for.  Danielle brought her local knowledge into play saying we needed to go right and then left onto a footpath but was left wondering when Twitcher suggested the trail went in the opposite direction.  He is so believable!  She was right and we set off south towards The Oratory School.  This was the first time we had run through the grounds and the main building is glorious.  But it was the Overflow Minibus Car Park that attracted CS’s attention!  We hit the road again and – another first – Twitcher had laid the On Inn in two different directions. Some went down a lane and across the playing fields and got very muddy and others went down the road and didn’t!

A lovely trail and a great social in the pub garden in the sun.  CS was upset to find tht Stella had found his stach of small change (!!) so he had to use a card at the bar.  The minimum spend was £10 so he bought 2 pints and many packets of communal crisps.  What a kind chap.

CS took over as RA/GM and came up with names for 3 new members.  Danielle had come out running, leaving Skidmark to look after Alfie even though he was still ill.  What a bad person.  So CS named her Nanny McPhee (but I thought she was good?).  Then he turned his attention to Kate who had recently moved from Wantage to Didcot so she could only be described as an Uptown Girl!  Finally he moved on to Karen who had been moaning about a lot of things during the trail but mostly about the amount of fur that her Labrador was currently leaving all over her house.  This conjured up a picture of the Hair of the Dog so she is now known as Boozer.  This was a triply good name as we then discovered that she is tee-total and had to explain the name to Rubber Sole.

Then Pressganger passed CS the Yellow Shirt to award.  He shared with the group that he had spent an enjoyable part of the trail walking with Piscine Down and they had discussed a number of issues.  At one point CS had said how Zorro is one of the nicest men he knows to which she replied “I know, but you have to treat them bad!”

On On 

Hares:  Twitcher

Hounds:  Lemony Snicket, Wimpey, Hutch, Rubber Sole, Gatecrasher, Zorro, Piscine Down, Pressganger, Professional Peach, Danielle, Karen, Kate, Sarah, Terry and Jeannette and Skidmark and Alfie met us at the pub

Date: 13 March 2016

Distance: 5.02 miles